Housefire
by Artdirector123
Summary: Part of my Big Brother William AU where in the 2003 Anime, Hohenheim didn't leave Envy to Dante. Before the brothers leave for central, edward and Alphonse decided to take an oath to never look back. William has some objections.


**Before reading this, I really recommend reading some of my other short stories for this series such as "The Taboo" and "Sleepless". Thanks!**

The night was quiet. All was still as the two boys stood before the house. The only sound that could be heard was the crackle of the torch in Alphonse's hand. Edward looked on at the empty structure, their childhood home. It held so many memories. Memories of playing on the swing, memories of helping their mother with the dishes and making soap bubble beards, memories of William chasing them down the hall, memories of their parents and older brother reading to them on the couch until they fell asleep, memories of studying alchemy in the attic, even some of Hohenheim watching them play on the living room floor.

However, it also held memories of the sin they had committed. Of how they had failed in resurrecting their mother and nearly destroyed themselves in the process. It was a reminder of how they had failed. But now as they stood before it, they were prepared to make it a different kind of reminder: a reminder that they had to keep moving forward. That they couldn't go back and couldn't stop until they've fixed what they've done. And so with that, Edward picked up the tank of gasoline at his side and stepped forward towards the old farm house.

"No, no, no, no, nO, NO, NO! NO!"

...only to be stopped in his tracks as William ran up from behind him and yanked the tank of gasoline out of his hands before tossing it aside in some random direction. "NO!" he repeated, looking Edward dead in the eye before prying the torch out of Alphonse's metal hands hand stomping it out. "NO!" he shouted again as he did so.

Edward blinked away his surprise before glaring at his brother. "Will?! What are you doing here?!"he snapped. He had thought their older brother had gone to bed for the night.

William turned on him with a furious look. "What am I doing?! What the hell are YOU doing?!"he retorted, "You were about to burn our house down! What is wrong with you two?! Can I just leave you alone for ten minutes without you doing something stupid for once? Please?"

"I told you it was a bad idea…" Alphonse whispered.

"Seriously, what possessed you to do this?" Will questioned.

Edward flushed in embarrassment before responding. "It's a statement to ourselves. A promise," he tried to explain, "A reminder that we can't give up and can't go back. That we have to keep moving forward."

"It's stupid is what it is!" William shouted back, "It's my house too you know! Do you realize how much important stuff is in there?! I have first editions of books that stopped printing over two hundred years ago in there! Plus family photos, all of Trisha's prized positions, and lots of really expensive furniture and appliances! On top of that, once we fix you guys, what were we supposed to do? Where were we supposed to live, huh?"

Ed opened his mouth to retort but found himself without an answer. "Well…" he started before looking away.

"You didn't even think about that did you?" William questioned, glaring down at the boy, causing him to scowl and look away. The eldest brother sighed. "If you need a reminder of what you're working towards so badly, keep a photo of you and Al in your pocket. Pinako has several you can use. Hell, get a tattoo for all I care, but you will not be burning anything to do so, got it?" he stated, "Now go back to the Rockbell's and go to bed. And do not even THINK of doing anything else so dangerous when I'm not around!"

Edward frowned and nodded before turning and heading down the hill. Alphonse quietly gave an apology before doing the same. William watched them leave before sighing and running a hand down his face. What was he going to do with them? Why did they have to be so melodramatic? Well, he supposed he couldn't blame them for that considering what they had gone through. Plus Ed was almost a teenager. Boy genius or not, emotions can have a tight hold on anyone's decision making at that age. He should feel grateful that Ed is more mature than most his age and that he had managed to stumble upon them just in in time.

He glanced back at the house. Now it was time to get to his own reason for being here. He opened the door and headed down the stairs to his dad's study. He began thumbing through the spins, pulling out any he could find on human transmutation before opening them to look at them. He did a quick check to make sure that none of them had any pages missing before carrying them upstairs into the living room. He then went upstairs to what was Trisha and Hoheheim's room before pulling the bed away from the wall. He then knelt down and pulled up the carpet that had been underneath it, and carefully pulling and sliding a wooden panel out of place.

His face had be stoic the whole time, but he relaxed it and gave a sigh of relief as he saw the book was still there. As he opened it up and flipped through it, he was even more relieved to find that nothing was missing either. "Good, so she hadn't found it…" he breathed to himself. He had been worried that Dante had found this little hiding spot when she was here. This had been where they had hidden his father's notes on making a philosophers stone, as well as the remaining fragments of the stone. The fragments were long gone as they had either been consumed by William or Hohenheim had taken them with him when he had left. He sighed as he wished there had been a few left over. Then maybe they could have fixed Ed and Al's situation right away…

He shook his head. It was safer this way. Having such power lying around could only bring trouble. Besides, if they hadn't gotten rid of them, one of Dante's minions might have sniffed them out and found the book as well, and that would have been ten times worse.

William replaced the floorboard and the carpeting before taking the book with him down stares. He then took it and the book of human transmutation outside and dumped them on the gravel path leading up to the back door of the house before going to find the tank of gasoline. He poured what remained of it on the books before striking a match and dropping it on the pile.

Near instantly, the blaze roared to life. William watched it with a solemn look. His gut twisted as he watched his father's irreplaceable notes be destroyed. It was hard enough to watch a normal book burn, but this was almost painful. Still it had to be done. In fact, it should have been done a long time ago, but both he and his father had been too hesitant, hoping desperately that something good could come out of the research. But now he realised that nothing good could ever come from these things. All they could bring was pain and suffering. His brother's fate was proof of that. Even if the philosopher's stone could solve their problems, the sacrifice to make one wasn't worth it. He never wanted them to learn how a stone was made, both for their own good and his. But he still hoped that maybe the boys could find one on their own, or possibly even figure out how to make a true stone: one that does not require sacrifice or equivalent exchange. It was a long shot, but if there was anyone that could figure it out, it was those two. He just had to hope things turned out alright, because for now, that's all they could do.


End file.
